Just try making sense of these underage sex decisions

Kaylin Hickey, 24, plead guilty to exposing his genitals to person under 16 and was given 30 days jail time to be served at the Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre.

(SHANNON QUESNEL /InfoTel Multimedia)

January 07, 2014 - 12:39 PM

PENTICTON - The same judge who sent a 22-year-old man home without a criminal record for having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl sentenced a 24-year-old Alberta man to jail yesterday just for sending pictures of his genitals to the same girl.

Yes, you read that right. Penticton Provincial Court Judge Gale Sinclair sentenced both men, neither of whom had criminal records at the time of the offences. The difference in sentencing comes from changes in mandatory minimum sentencing for crimes involving children. The 24-year-old, who never even met the girl, committed his crime after Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives brought in the changes. The 22-year-old had the sexual relationship before the changes—had he committed the crime afterwards he would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 90 days.

In December, Sinclair sentenced Harrison Bruce, 22, to a conditional sentence for the sexual relationship—in law, it doesn't matter that it was a consensual relationship. He pleaded guilty to sexual assault—he knew she was 15. If Bruce is of good behaviour for one year on probation and completes 30 hours of community service, the conviction will not register on his criminal record.

Bruce's sentence is in stark contrast with the one handed Kaylin Hickey, 24. On Monday, Sinclair sentenced Hickey to 30 days.

Hickey's online relationship with the girl lasted from September to October 2012, Crown prosecuter Catherine Crockett said.

Hickey was sentenced to 30 days at Kamloops Regional Correction Centre and will be on the national sex offender registry for 10 years.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Shannon Quesnel at squesnel@infotelnews.ca, call 250-488-3065 or tweet @InfoNewsPentict

OPINION Editor, This is a busy time of year, but I find it’s also a time of reflection, particularly as January marks the end of my two-year term as Chair and my 10 years serving on the Board of Interior